Environmental groups are urging President Obama to use his executive authority to curb carbon emissions and address the issue of climate change.
“Use your executive authority,” reads a letter sent on Monday from nearly 70 environmental groups. “You have the authority under existing law to achieve urgently needed reductions in the carbon pollution that is disrupting our climate and damaging our health.”
The environmental groups, including the Working Families Party, argue that the president could significantly impact climate change by using the the Environmental Protection Agency’s existing authority under the Clean Air Act to set emissions standards for the country’s aging power plants.
The letter urges the president to cut carbon emissions by 25 percent by 2020, while shifting to clean energy sources and promoting more energy efficiency.
“Power plants are our largest source of carbon pollution and you have the authority and responsibility to clean them up under the Clean Air Act,’ the letter reads. “This will create tens of thousands of clean energy jobs, meet the pollution targets you set for the country, and restore U.S. international leadership.”
The letter was released by the Natural Resources Defense Council and signed by prominent environmental groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Sierra Club.
“It is the great challenge of our time and our response will leave an historic legacy,” the groups noted.
The NRDC previously urged the Obama administration to adopt emissions standards for existing power plants. The EPA has already proposed emissions standards for new power plants, but there are no standards for existing ones.
However, power companies are already finding it difficult for some power generators, specifically coal-fired generators, due to stricter EPA environmental rules.
On Monday, Georgia Power announced it was asking state regulators for permission to shut down 15 coal-fired and oil-fired generators, in part due to current and future environmental regulations.
A September report by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity found that EPA regulations have contributed to the planned shutdown of more than 200 coal-fired generators across 25 states.
Another study by National Economic Research Associates for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity found that over the next four years between 54,000 and 69,000 megawatts of coal-fueled electricity generation will be forced to retire, mainly due to the EPA regulations.
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to regulate emissions from stationary and mobile sources in order to protect the public from hazardous airborne pollutants that are harmful to human health.
The other two steps the letter mentions are elevating the issue of climate change in the public discussion and rejecting “dirty” fuels such as oil from tar sands — which is the oil that will be brought into the U.S. via the Keystone XL pipeline.
“Cutting carbon pollution at home and rejecting dirty fuels will establish America’s leadership and credibility, enabling you to create clean energy jobs in the United States while forging an effective international coalition to cut global carbon pollution,” the letter concluded. “We urge you to elevate climate solutions to the top tier of your domestic agenda and America’s bilateral and global diplomatic priorities.”
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